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TextStream - Not having a good experience and looking for guidance

So my husband wrote and self-published his first children's story. He sent it to TextStream last week via the FTP instructions that were provided. Since then, we have contacted our rep, Rob Bedford, many times over phone (both work and cell) or email asking if the upload was successful, was the contract approved, etc. No response. No out of office message. Our messages have been very polite asking if there is anything else we need to do, how soon until we will receive the proof copy...no response.

I tried hitting "0" when I heard his voice mail in hopes of getting a live operator. No such luck. I called the main number and went through the auto attendant menu which eventually just had me leave a mesage in a general mailbox...no response. I tried looking on the website for some other contact name or number, but all the pages point to Rob. Maybe he's sick, on vacation, or quit his job for all we know. :-) We just need to speak to someone to find out what's going on.

Any tips on how to get a hold of a live person? Anyone else experience issues with TextStream? Is it just because we are small potatoes with our one little book compared to his other clients that we are just not a priority? Maybe an entire week without a response is typical behavior for this industry and we just need to chill out? Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Michelle

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott Flora on October 8, 2010 at 10:09am

Michele,

I don't know much about TextStream (a division of Baker and Taylor). I do know that you are justified in your concern. A company like B&T should commit to having the resources to respond to you, one of their paying customers, within 24 hours.

One of SPAN's benefits for paying members (SPANpro) is a discount on one of B&T's services. I will let our contact at B&T know of this problem.

Although the goal of many POD publishers and digital prnters is volume and not personal service, you should not have to accept this poor service from a vendor.

Scott

Permalink Reply by Alan J. Delotavo on October 8, 2010 at 12:10pm

I think TS is making the guy a one man army. My publishing company (FreshIdeasBooks) applied for affiliation, we got the response after 6 months. B&K is a mega-distributor, but TS is really new, and my impression is, it's very under-staffed. Imagine, the books I published (in print, eBook, and audiobook versions) were already in the market globally for few months now. If I waited for TS most probably the print alone will not come out until next year. Try other options. You may also check our website www.FreshIdeasBooks.com

Permalink Reply by Robert Kynor on October 8, 2010 at 1:27pm

Hi Michelle,
I do not know of this company either. However, I understand your frustration. Even if you are "small potatoes" as you say, you should at least be responded to in a timely manner. You may want to consider looking elsewhere for your printing needs. If you choose to go this route, contact Carol Bowersock at BookMasters. They did a wonderful job on our book and provided exceptional service. Kirin Coburn (SPAN member) coburnprinting.com, also provides excellent customer service.
Hang in there!! Perseverance, and patience are instrumental in the process of seeing your book come to life!!

Robert

Permalink Reply by Brad Poulson on October 8, 2010 at 4:47pm

Robert,
Thanks for adding your expertise to this discussion. Your book, Oscar the Christmas Kitten, is so sweet and hopeful and I’m sure it will be a success (Click here for more information about Oscar). For other readers of this thread, BookMasters is a Sponsoring Member of SPAN, and they support the nonprofit work we do – please thank them! Click here for information about all of our Sponsors.

Highest Regards,

Brad Poulson
SPAN Communications Director

Permalink Reply by Michelle Zabel on October 8, 2010 at 2:37pm

Thanks to everyone for your replies! They are extremely helpful! And I'm not sure if Scott's contact got involved or it was just coincidence, but Rob @ TextStream finally emailed me back! He said that "Issues have arisen with our 4-color portion of the program that are preventing us from ingesting files for new titles for the next couple of weeks. " Unfortunately, he doesn't have a specific date when things will be resolved, but at least I have an answer! Now I just need to decide if we should move to another printer or not?

This group is wonderful! Thanks again.
-Michelle

Permalink Reply by Lynda Deniger on October 9, 2010 at 5:58pm

Michelle, I was asked by Brad Poulson to respond to your question. I'm not sure where you are in your production, but it is scarey enough when you get answers from the people you're working with, but not to get answers, WOW! Way outside my comfort zone. One thing I did do was get advice from people early on about who to deal with. I used two diff. printers for my first children's book, Salty Seas & His Heroic Friends. Not because I planned to, but because Bookmasters' sales person promised me things that she couldn't deliver. Such as the delivery date from their China printer. They did try to make it right afterwards, but that was too late. I had already gotten a diff. printer from CA who did a superb job and got my product in a few days before the promised date and about a month before Bookmasters who had gotten the file about ten days before the second printer.

All that to say this, when I don't get the response I desire from someone, I get it rectified or I move on to someone else in a working relationship. I don't know exactly what your project is, but I can definitely vouch for my printer if you're interested in getting another price quote. Contact me if you'd like that info. Best of luck.

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